The holiday season is undoubtedly characterized by new found excitement for the festive season which includes a compulsory shopping spree, whether it is choosing a gift for your loved one or revamping your home décor to welcome the New Year. You’ve got to find the right place to shop to make your holiday a memorable one.
From the perspective of a retailer, holidays are not only about increasing your profits manifold but also covering up for loss in sales due to off-season reasons. The hype that is created during the holiday season might be short-lived and as the presents are opened and holiday shenanigans come to an end, the impact of the retailer is then holistically analyzed.
This is where perfect customer service comes into play. Businesses that take advantage of the holiday season and foster a positive customer experience that is initiated from the social media interactions to marketing their brand to turning them into loyal customers ultimately lead to satisfactory word-of-mouth marketing.
Understanding consumer preferences
In this highly dynamic world, the retailer needs to comprehend how consumer minds function especially the millennial and baby boomer generation are very particular about the minute and intricate details. Retailers need to understand the online shopping steps that the new generation practically undertakes.
This begins with making a choice about the product type, browsing through the options and alternatives available and most importantly doing comparative shopping. Following these trends helps deliver what consumers want.
Unsurpassable customer service
Online stores are different from the brick and mortar stores such that they cannot humanly welcome the shoppers but they can certainly humanize and personalize the digital experience. The expectations set by physical outlets have set the bar high and need to be competed equitably by online stores.
Even though online shopping is any day far more convenient, it certainly needs to cover up on the personalized consulting that physical stores provide. 64% of shoppers believe that their purchasing decisions are greatly influenced by in-store experiences.
Shipping incentives is MUST
E-commerce giants such as Amazon have captured a major part of the online market share by surpassing customer experience year after year. Not only do they provide superior-quality products and services but also leave no stone unturned in making sure that right from the inception of the purchase till its delivery, the customer has no complaints.
It is but obvious, that all brands cannot afford to incur a loss at the cost of free shipping services but can certainly offer a promotional time period when shipping costs are at a minimum or totally free during the holiday season. 88% of shoppers prefers a merchant who offers free shipping over another retailer who doesn’t.
The trends that have been observed in the recent years clearly highlight the fact that consumers have drastically shifted to the online platform for shopping. This holiday season is expected to take the online shopping experience to yet another level according to recent 2016 holiday shopping survey. The budget allocated to online Vs in-store shopping is found to be equal, hence noticing an increase in sales from 2015.
Judy Robinson
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